Grammar Info
N1 Lesson 2: 11/17

にして ①
at, over, in, only (after/when/because)

Structure
Number + Counter + にして
Noun + にして
Details
Register Standard
使用域 一般
Information
  • [にして is used to emphasize a phase, or age at which something of importance happens]
  • [にしてようやく・にして初めて often emphasize that only when (because) someone is at/reaches a certain (high) level that they will be capable of accomplishing, fulfilling, or becoming something]
  • [In general you can think of it as a more emphasized で]
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今(いま)にして思(おも)えばあの頃(ころ)5ドルでビットコインを売(う)るのは間違(まちが)った決定(けってい)だったかも。
When I think about it now, selling bitcoin for 5 dollars at that time might have been a bad decision.
[今にして思えば is a common phrase, can be used in casual language]
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釈迦(しゃか)は29歳(さい)にして初(はじ)めて、宮殿(きゅうでん)を出(で)た。
Buddha left the palace for the first time at the age of 29.
[Very often used with て初めて “only after”/”for the first time”]
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彼(かれ)はバブルがはじけたことにより一夜(いちや)にして破産者(はさんしゃ)となった。
Due to the bubble burst, he went bankrupt overnight.
[With AにしてB the speaker often finds the period A for B to happen surprisingly short (or long) so it is quite often used with time-related expressions like 一瞬、一夜、1 泊、一代、etc.]
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Books
Try N1
Page 143
Sou Matome Bunpou N1
Page 64
Shin Kanzen Master N1
Bunpou Page 77
A Dictionary of Advanced Japanese Grammar
Page 426